First Defence to run social engineering course at BRUcon 2009

Social engineering attacks can have disastrous consequences, both financially and reputationally. How do you test your defences?

You can have the best technical security controls in the world, from the most expensive firewall to the most sophisticated biometrics, but they will not protect you from a social engineering attack. In any security programme people are the weakest link. Social engineering tests can be used to evaluate and strengthen this link.

Like any penetration test, social engineering tests can help to identify security weaknesses that could allow your information to be compromised. However, it can be difficult to know how to conduct a social engineering test.

First Defence are running a two-day training course at BRUcon in September that will teach participants how to conduct an ethical social engineering test, the theory behind social engineering, as well as giving recommendations on how to defend against social engineers.